Poor nap behavior

[mmoe223]

My 10 week old is having difficulty sleeping in his crib for naptime.  He can be rocked and fast asleep and when you transfer him to his crib he immediately wakes up and starts crying.  He sleeps great in his swing and if he is being held.  He also sleeps great in his crib at night.  How can I get my child to be a better napper?  And when is it too young to have them cry to learn to put themselves back to sleep?

[cardsfan]

All of my three children were the same! At this point, he is too young to cry it out! I would keep trying him in his crib. You can get him after he cries and them put him back in there. Eventually it will work. My youngest was 4 months when he started sleeping in his crib. It took me one night of just placing him back in there and then he gave up. All 3 of my kids are great at bedtime! Provide your child with a strict bedtime routine and stick with it! It pays off in the long run! All of my kids to this day go to bed with no problem! In fact, they even ask to go to bed if for some reason we are late getting to bed at night! You and your spouse will love having a great bedtime routine, so you can have time to yourselves! So hang in there ! Your child will come around as he gets oldER

[AHP84]

My son was the same way when he was an infant. He'd fall asleep anywhere but his crib.
What worked for me was to lay down with him and snuggle him next to me on the bed or the couch until he fell asleep. Then I could gently move away from him and get off the bed/couch and leave him there to sleep.
That worked for me until he was about five months old, which was about the time he started rolling over. But by then he was able to sleep in his crib with no problem.
As for when it's appropriate to let your baby cry himself to sleep, I waited until my son was around six months old. Up till then, I always picked him up and comforted him when he cried. After that point, I'd let him cry for about five minutes, then go stroke his head and soothingly talk to him for a minute without picking him up, then leave. I'd do that every five to eight minutes until he fell asleep.
He's 2 1/2 now and he happily goes to bed without a struggle for naps and bedtime.